Eternal Knot

CHAPTER THREE

"What? Marry him? Why?" Clare was confused. She didn't understand how their conversation had escalated to marriage. "You're going to marry Travis," her mother interjected. Irene was taken aback when she heard what her mother said. "Wait, who's Travis?" she asked them. Mr. Hackett grinned and seemed amused as he watched her. "Why would I marry him? I'm not even eager to get married. You should marry Al here since he's the one who—"

"My name is Travis, and I am straight," he interrupted. Clare furrowed her brow, then burst into laughter. "You've got to be kidding me. I barely know this guy, and now you want to marry me off to him!" Clare exclaimed angrily when she saw the seriousness on her parents' faces. She became even more irritated by Mr. Hackett's grin. It felt like he was teasing her.

"Do I even have a say in this?" she asked her mother. Her Dad glared at her, so Clare sat down. Her mother quickly held her hand, perhaps to calm her down? She doesn't know. She knows her Dad, and she knows he's had enough, so she needs to sit. But she doesn't want to marry this guy. Especially since he's so arrogant. Clare doesn't like arrogant men. Yes, he's handsome, but he's not Clare's type. He's too... handsome. Clearly a ladies' man.

"You have to marry him, Clare," her father asserted. Clare didn't speak because no matter how much she denies it, her father will still insist. But Clare had a plan to avoid their marriage. It's either she'll commit suicide, or she'll run away from their house and their area to ensure that her father won't find her.

"So, it's settled then. I am going to marry your daughter," Mr. Hackett said with a grin. Clare's father nodded. Clare thought her father would be happy with the result, but she saw that his face remained serious, seemingly uncaring. Clare furrowed her brow.

"When's the wedding?" Clare interjected into their conversation. Everyone looked at her. "Are you okay with this, dear?" her mother asked her cheerfully. Clare couldn't help but roll her eyes. "I obviously don't have a choice, so I'll just agree," Clare replied. Even though that's how Clare answered, her mother was still pleased. She couldn't believe her mother was looking at her like that.

"What about next month?" Mr. Hackett asked them. Clare's parents looked at each other and nodded immediately. "The sooner, the better," her father said. Then Mr. Hackett stood up, and they followed suit. Clare's father and Mr. Hackett shook hands. Clare extended her hand for Mr. Hackett to kiss it. This is what she always does when her father has guests.

"It's a pleasure meeting you, milady," Mr. Hackett said with a flirtatious tone. Clare playfully faced him, which only amused him more.

"Thank you for agreeing to this meeting, Mr. Hackett," her father said again. Mr. Hackett nodded before turning and leaving the restaurant with the two others who Clare didn't know the name of earlier.

"Well, that went... smoothly," her mother remarked. Clare wiped her mouth and began to walk. She didn't care if her father got angry at how she was behaving right now. She has every right to be angry because her parents are forcing her to marry a man she hardly knows.

"Where do you think you're going?" she heard her mother call out to her as she entered her room. Clare couldn't count how many times she rolled her eyes. "Why? Aren't we going home yet?" Clare asked them.

"Why were you holding a cigarette earlier? I thought you were just going to the bathroom?" Clare's mother asked as they sat inside the car. Clare replied, looking out the window, "That cigarette wasn't mine." Her mother sighed. "I know you're upset with us because of what we did earlier. But someday, you'll understand why we did it, my child," her mother said as the surroundings fell silent. Clare didn't respond because she was thinking of ways to leave their house later. She planned to run away.

Her savings were just enough to go to a distant place. There, she would look for a job and a place to stay. She had prepared herself for this day, and now that she had a reason to run away, she was even more delighted. "Finally, I can leave!" Clare couldn't help but smile. She couldn't wait to get home.

---

"Sweetheart, how are you? Did anything bad happen?" Clare's mom asked as soon as she entered her room. She quickly followed her to ask. Clare stood up immediately. She wanted to find a way to escape, but she couldn't because her mother was still inside her room, and she knew that if her mother found out her plan, she wouldn't allow it.

"It went well," Clare replied curtly to convey to her mom that she was tired and wanted to sleep. "Did they do anything wrong to you?" her mother asked, worried. Clare shook her head. "Mom, no. After we ate, we went straight home," Clare replied. She didn't want to tell Nana Isabel that her parents were arranging her marriage.

"Alright, I'll leave you now. Go to sleep," her mom said. Clare nodded immediately. After Nana Isabel left, Clare quickly went to her closet and grabbed a bag. She didn't bring a big bag because she knew she would have a hard time escaping later. She just took some clothes, the pepper spray she ordered online, and shoes.

She glanced at the door and quickly locked it. Then she opened her window, and the cold breeze greeted her immediately. Clare closed her eyes. She looked down. She had passed through here many times when she left the house without permission. She hadn't been caught yet, so Clare was confident that her dad wouldn't catch her even if she passed through the window.

She secured the bag to her back. She had already put on black leggings so she wouldn't have trouble moving. The distance from her room to the ground wasn't too high, so Clare wouldn't have trouble jumping. And besides, she was already used to this. Fortunately, there was an empty room below her room, so no one would see her if she suddenly jumped down.

Clare prepared herself to jump before counting to three. She winced when she felt pain in her foot after landing, but Clare endured it. She didn't waste any time; she immediately ran to the back. If she passed through the front, there would be many of her dad's men lurking, so she needed to be careful.

Clare successfully reached the back. There weren't too many of her dad's men walking around here, so Clare was sure no one would catch her.

"It's up to you. Let them get married if they want," Clare muttered to herself as she ran quickly. One reason there weren't too many of her dad's men walking around this area was because there were many trees in the back, and it was very dark.

Clare quickly took the small flashlight she also ordered online and started running fast. Clare smiled. She didn't look back, but she was sure she was far from home now.

"f**k," Clare cursed, a smile on her lips. Clare stopped after a few minutes and immediately caught her breath. She couldn't see any lights behind her, so she was sure she was far from home.

Clare walked while looking around. Her dad still owned this part of the forest. If she continued walking, she would reach the main road, and she would just walk from there until she found a taxi. But because it was already late at night, it was impossible to find a taxi randomly on the road. Clare sighed and continued walking. She stopped when she heard rustling behind her. Clare quickly looked back and shone the light where she heard the rustling, but she didn't see anything. Clare just shrugged and ignored it. She continued walking, but now she felt something strange behind her. She wasn't sure, but it felt like someone was watching her. Clare quickly put on her hoodie when she heard the click of a gun. Clare immediately raised her hands. She blinked. She was very confident that no one else was here, but it seemed like she was wrong. Now, if this person was one of her father's men, she was lucky, but if not, she was definitely unlucky. Maybe this person was one of those who were angry with their family.

"Who are you?" Clare asked, still raising her hands. She heard the person's footsteps getting closer to her. If everything goes wrong, I'll use the ice pick I brought with me, Clare whispered to herself.

"What do you want?" Clare asked. But instead of answering, she heard the person laugh.

"What are you doing here, Miss Sanes?" Clare was surprised to hear that familiar voice. She quickly turned around and almost widened her eyes when she saw Mr. Hackett holding a gun, still aimed at her.

“What the hell are you doing? I should be the one asking you that since you are in our property.” Claire made sure her voice isn’t trembling. She’s so scared right now and she keep on glancing at the gun still pointing at her. When Travis noticed that Claire is staring at the gun, he immediately dropped it and hid it in the holster behind him.

“I’m just checking the area,” Travis replied and tried lighting a cigarette, but for some unknown reason he threw it away.

“Go back in your mansion, don’t worry I am not going to tell your Father about this,” Travis said and started to walk away. Claire stopped him by calling his name.

“Are you not even angry for what they did?” Claire couldn’t stop herself from asking that question. It kind of seems like she’s the only one who cares about it. “Does that mean that you really want to get married? With me?” Claire silently wished that Travis will change his mind. Claire heard Travis sigh.

“You know, just like you, I didn’t had a choice either. So I am not going to say sorry if that’s what you want to hear.” But Travis doesn’t sound like he mean everything he said, and that’s what Claire noticed.

“Fine, we are getting married and I’ll make sure that you’ll regret it!” Claire exclaimed. She turned her back against him and started walking back to the mansion. Good thing she still made it back to the mansion. She was so angry that she didn’t notice where she’s heading.

When she opened the door, Nana Isabel is the first thing she saw.

“Nana?” she asked looking confused.

Shocked by the sudden appearance of Claire, Nana Isabel gave her a pitiful look.

“What?” Claire asked.

“I tried to ask your Father if I can stay with you after you got married, but he said no.” Claire’s heart melted when she heard what Nana Isabel did.

“Nana, don’t worry about me. I’ll be fine, I will make that guy’s life a living hell.”

"I know, my child, but I'm just sad because I can't do anything to help you," Nana Isabel said sadly. Claire paused, realizing that even she couldn't do anything, so how could Nana Isabel?

"Don't worry, everything will be okay," Claire said with a smile to the old woman.

"Shall we go inside?" Claire asked.

"Why were you outside anyway? I didn't see you come down. I've been knocking on your door for a while now, but no one answered, and you were outside," Nana Isabel asked.

The two went up to Claire's room. Claire tried to forget about her encounter with Travis earlier. Now that she was in this situation, Claire would make sure to make Travis's life difficult. It would be easy for her."

It’s been four days since Claire found out about the engagement. Her Dad never brought it up during dinner which is good.

“You’ll have a bridal gown fitting later, my secretary will call you so you have to cooperate. Do you understand?” he announced. Claire wiped my mouth using the napkin and nodded. “Yes, Dad.”

When she finished eating, she went straight outside the house. The surrounding area is wide, which is why she can walk freely in different parts of the area without a guard.

Because maybe if I go out now, Dad might just send guards to watch over me in case I run away. Claire thought

Claire shook his head in disagreement.

“I know you’re up to something. If I were you, I’d probably put a stop to it.” Claire immediately turned around to see her cousin walking towards me. Her brows furrowed when she saw his mischievous grin.

“Are you sure about that? It seems to me that YOU were up to something, not the other way around,” Claire voiced still looking at him confused.Dace grinned at her so Claire rolled her eyes

“Of course I am, I wouldn’t be Dace if I’m boring,” he proclaimed and started laughing. Claire sighed and started walking away. But she stopped when Dace called her name.

“What?” She shouted.

“I have nothing else to do so I’ll just follow you around. Is that okay with you?”

Claire was about to answer but he cut her off.

“Of course, it’s okay with you,” he declared. Claire just frowned at him and started walking. Claire doesn’t even know where she’s going, especially since Dace is here now and he's always on her because nothing is interesting that’s going on in his life.

Dace is her cousin. My father took care of him because both of his parents died. Dad didn't want to tell her what happened and she didn't want to ask Dace about it. He doesn't remember anything about his parents either, so it’s no use asking him. Dace is only a few years older than her, so he considers Claire his younger sister. Claire’s relationship with him has been okay so far. They never got into a fight or an argument because Dace was very kind to her.

“Are you going to follow me the whole day?” Claire asked in irritation.

“Yep. I told you, I have nothing else to do. I think you’re going to do something fun so I’ll stick around. Come on, don’t be such a grandma,” he vocalized and started ruining her hair. Claire screamed in frustration and pushed him away.

“Stop ruining my hair!” she shouted. But instead of stopping, he went after her waist and started tickling her. Claire couldn’t control herself and laughed hysterically while pushing Dace away. But he’s too strong.

Dace stopped when he noticed that she’s running out of breath.

“Stop doing it,” she gasped for air while saying it. Dace smiled at her and patted her head.

“You needed to laugh and I gave it to you, now my mission is finished. I shall go now. Goodbye, Princess,” Dace announced and started walking away. Claire smiled while looking at his back.